Cross country comes to Forest Beach

Port Washington High School hosted Grafton in a rare dual cross country meet at a place not used for the sport in the last quarter century last Thursday.

The teams ran at Forest Beach Migratory Preserve in the Town of Belgium, a more common cross country site when the land was the Port Washington Country Club and later Squires Golf Course.

The Ozaukee Washington Land Trust let the teams use the property. Port coaches Mark Pasten and Joe Adamak set the course on the property’s walking trails.

The Pirate boys won, 27-28. Port’s Mason Raasch was second on the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 15 seconds. Nate Meeks was fourth in 17:55. Austin Rinke was sixth in 17:58. Gabe Pasten was seventh in 17:59 and Angelo Feciskonin was eighth in 18:12. All were either personal record or season-best times.

Coach Pasten said Raasch pulled away from Grafton’s second and third runners, and Meeks, Rinke and Pasten ran in a pack for the majority of the race.

Grafton’s Nathan Baker, who has been near the top of every race this season, won in 16:45. Coach Celia Shaughnessy said he was pleased with his performance.

Cael Abad was third in 17:40. Chris Kalies was fifth in 17:56. Lance Greicar was ninth in 18:54 and Gabe Mietkowski was 10th in 19:07.

Port girls go 1-2-4-5 in topping Grafton

Abbey Lotz won in 20:39. Mira Stimac was second in 20:47. Braeya Thomas was fourth in 21:49. Ella Tatem was fifth in 22:24.

Adamak said his team ran well on the scenic and rolling terrain.

For Grafton, which was missing its top runner, this was the first meet that wasn’t at Tendick Park in Saukville this season.

Evelyn Schmit was third in 20:47. Morgan Ruona was sixth in 22:28, and Maddy Wille was a hair behind her in seventh in 22:28. Josie Gehrke was eighth in 22:36 and Kate Sarbacker was 12th in 24:29. Schmidt, Gehrke and Sarbacker ran personal-records.

“Evelyn had a fantastic race. Most of the miles she had three Port girls on her heels and fought for the top spot,” Shaughnessy said.

The coaches expressed appreciation to the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust.

“They were very generous. Because of Covid-19, they let us on the course,” Adamak said.

“These are the moments where community spirit and what is best for all our athletes shine through,” Shaughnessy said.

Grafton runs Thursday, Oct. 1, at Slinger. Port and Grafton both run in the North Shore Conference Meet at Tendick on Friday, Oct. 9.

Ozaukee girls smoke competitors at invite

The Ozaukee High School girls ran away with the Jim Bremser Invite at Mishicot last Thursday, scoring 52 points to Kiel’s 80. Cedar Grove-Belgium scored 86 points and took third of 12 teams.

“Every girl on our team either had a personal record or a season best, which is always great to see. I’m proud of how they responded from the previous week and got right back on track,” coach Andrew Pfeuffer said.

The Warriors’ top four runners each had a personal-record time. Clara McKee was seventh on the 5,000-meter course in 21 minutes, 12 seconds, her best-ever time by nearly a minute. Grace

Tinder was ninth in a personal record 21:21.

Becky Hoffmann was 14th in 21:44, and Meredith Clark was 15th in 21:49. Sophie Uhlenberg was 18th in a season-best 21:56.

“The key from our last meet was our pack running. We were able to place our top seven runners in the top 22 places. It is really nice to have our pack not only on race days but also for practices. It makes them stay consistent because any one of them can step up and be our No. 1 runner the next meet,” Pfeuffer said.

For Cedar Grove-Belgium, Hadley Heimerman was 10th of 87 runners in a personal-record 21:22.18. Faith Konzak was 19th in 22:06.4. Cheyenne Simonet was 21st in 22:12.23. Lyndsay Sass was 23rd in 22:18.67, and Elise Brill was 27th in 22:41.93.

Coach Brandon Langer said the girls got out quick and likely led early before two packs of Ozaukee runners moved up.

“The middle stages of the race will continue to be areas of focus, but with the work ethic these girls have, I am confident that they will improve,” Langer said.

Rocket boys edge Warriors this time

Cedar Grove-Belgium’s boys scored 156 points and took fifth place in the Jim Bremser Invite, edging Ozaukee’s 174 in sixth. The Warriors beat the Rockets in Fredonia last month.

Valders won the 15-team meet with 63 points. Sheboygan Lutheran scored 65 and Brillion scored 116.

Rocket Mason Hoopman was 11th of 100 runners in a personal-record 17:22.33. Alex Nett was 27th in a personal-record 18:11.06. Nathanael Bruhn was 37th in 18:40.07. Brett Williams was 39th in 18:44.23, and Michael Kuerschner was 46th in 19:06.21.

“Placing fifth overall was a solid day, considering the quality of the field,” Langer said, adding the top teams are strong.

Warrior Calvin McKee led the boys in 17th with a personal-record 17:38. Owen Klaus was 28th in a personal-record 18:29. Matt Baldwin was 36th in a season-best 18:39. Tyler Mueller was 41st in a season-best 18:56. Aaron Nehls was 56th in 19:38.

“We knew going in there was some top level competition, and they stepped up and competed well with them,” Pfeuffer said.
Ozaukee runs in the Brillion Invite on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

Cedar Grove-Belgium was to run Tuesday in the Sheboygan County Meet at Sheboygan Lutheran and with Ozaukee in the Big East Conference meet Tuesday, Oct. 13.